[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Minority groups are constantly battling to champion their causes. It is a movement that is changing our culture and our country as a contemporary reformation. However, there are many unique, powerful voices and causes that need to be heard within the minority community.

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We should not simply clump all minority groups together. It is offensive and downplays the importance of individual voices. We should recognize that saying you are “color-blind” is itself a form a racism and that ignorance toward issues such as gender pronouns facilitates prejudice. We should be aware enough to educate ourselves. We should celebrate diversity in all its forms.

Anti-discrimination is a good banner, so long as we do not use it as a way to see all people in the same way. We should see all people equally, and everyone should be able to feel equally privileged. However, differences should be celebrated rather than “not seen” through the guise of sameness. The pursuit of happiness is not a conveyor belt of systematized arrangements. The United States should not be a melting pot where cultures come in and assimilate their uniqueness into a uniform, homogenous mixture of monotony. No, the U.S. should be a land of freedom. A land where you are free to be, think, work, worship, marry, vote and participate in the human race without reservation.

I must acknowledge a certain degree of my own ignorance as well. I am not actively involved in any minority groups and am most likely seen as one of the privileged who could go through this life without worrying about discrimination. However, ignorance is not an excuse for perpetuating the existing system of inequality. There are changes that need to be made, and it starts in our minds and actions. We all must be advocates for each other and spread awareness and affect change.

This said, I am at times confused by the sense of rivalry that exists between some members of minority groups with other minority groups. Lately, I have heard and come across situations in which an individual responded to an event or petition for certain causes with eye rolls and disregard. I was surprised because these people were themselves champions of their own communities, seeking to be heard. It seemed that their thought process was that it somehow didn’t take into account their cause or detracted from their community’s voice. I understand that everyone thinks their cause is the most important, but that does not mean reacting to someone else’s efforts to be heard in a manner that makes them irrelevant. If you are against the prejudice of the system, see it all. In a way, fighters against the system can also perpetuate it by only seeing the changes that would affect them and theirs. Step back and see the changes that can encompass all who need to be heard.

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